Haze gets worse in Malaysia, Indonesia

News Desk

The Straits Times

Publication Date : 14-03-2014

The air quality in parts of Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia continued to deteriorate sharply yesterday as a result of open burning and land-clearing bush fires in the face of an unusual dry spell.

People in Selangor, particularly, were left choking as the Air Pollutant Index (API) soared yesterday, and Klang authorities have ordered schools to close today.

Reports said Port Klang recorded a "very unhealthy" API reading of 203 as at 1pm. Twelve other areas, including Kuala Lumpur and other major towns in Negeri Sembilan and Malacca, recorded readings of between 113 and 145.

API readings of 0-50 are considered good, moderate is from 51-100, unhealthy is 101-200, very unhealthy is 201-300 and levels exceeding 300 are dangerous.

Officials here blamed the worsening haze on open burning in Malaysia, with the director-general of the Meteorological Department, Datuk Che Gayah Ismail, disclosing that more than 600 open burning spots were recorded nationwide on Wednesday.

"Yes, the smoke and haze are still caused by us," she told the Malaysian Insider website yesterday. "If the wind direction changes now, we will be in trouble. The haze will be much, much worse if that happens." She also said the wind direction made it impossible to blame Indonesia for the unhealthy air quality in Malaysia.

Visit link:
Haze gets worse in Malaysia, Indonesia